-          Jesse Willoughby takes up LA-based role

-          Formerly of ASCAP with background in performing rights

6th March 2014, London:-  Kobalt Neighbouring Rights (KNR) has increased its US activities with the appointment of Jesse Willoughby as Business Development Manager.

He will represent KNR in the US, managing and further developing relationships with existing clients, as well as identifying and adding new clients to the KNR roster.

Based in LA, he will report to KNR’s Managing Director Ann Tausis in London.

Willoughby brings with him over eight years of experience in performing rights from his various roles at the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP). Most recently this was as Director for the pop/rock membership and, prior to that, as the Associate Director for the Nashville membership.

Ann Tausis, Managing Director of KNR, said of the appointment: “We’re happy to welcome Jesse to the Kobalt family. His experience in the performing rights sector, and particularly in relationship management, will be hugely valuable as we look to take KNR further forward in the US – a market which is notably more complex when it comes to Neighbouring Rights.”

Jesse Willoughby added: “I’m very excited to have the opportunity of joining a company with the global impact of Kobalt. The reputation of the company precedes it, and I look forward to being part of the KNR team and contributing to its ongoing success.”

About Kobalt Neighbouring Rights 

Kobalt Neighbouring Rights (KNR) offers a global service for artists and independent labels to collect their Neighbouring Rights income from the various relevant collecting societies around the world.

Launched at MIDEM 2012, KNR is run by Managing Director Ann Tausis, who was previously at Universal Publishing for 20 years, most recently as Director, European Regional Administration.

KNR prides itself on its bespoke, robust service to clients, drawing on secondary data to test reporting by collecting societies and negotiating the complex distribution policies and qualifying criteria in order to maximise revenues to artists. By making use of the infrastructure and back office of the critically-acclaimed Kobalt Music Group, KNR is able to build a more accurate picture of revenues owed.

The company represents, among others, Bob Dylan, Björk, Ellie Goulding, Jake Bugg, Macklemore & Ryan Lewis, and Gotye.

KNR was launched by executive chairman Hans Van Berkel, and benefits from his inside knowledge and international relationships built up over 20 years of record label experience at Polygram and 18 years in the Neighbouring Rights field as Managing Director of Dutch Neighbouring Rights organisation SENA.

Based in London, Kobalt Neighbouring Rights is a separate limited company operating as part of the Kobalt Music Group, and embraces the wider group’s ethos of transparency and timeliness of payments to clients who are guaranteed payment within 31 days after the end of the month in which money is received.